Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Crime-Buster

Post by Jabroniville »

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CRIME-BUSTER (Eugene Mason)
Created By:
Kurt Busiek & Richard Howell
First Appearance: Power Man & Iron First #105 (May 1984)
Role: Jobber Hero, Abusive Jerkbag
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (Guns & Stuff), Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Whammer" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [12]
"Net Cartridge" Snare 6 (18) -- (20 points)
  • AE: "Smoke Bomb Cartridge" Concealment 2 (Vision) (Extras: Area- 15ft. Cloud, Ranged) (8)
  • AE: "Stun Pellet Cartridge" Affliction 6 (Toughness; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (12)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Stun Pellets +10 (+6 Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Net Cartridge +10 (+6 Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Secret (Former Criminal)

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 13 (99)

-Crime-Buster was an arsonist and murderer who'd escaped from prison, and stumbled across one of the original Crimebuster's hideouts. Grabbing the gear, he became a "Hero For Hire", inspired by Luke Cage. He began dating a former Heroes For Hire employee and set up a rival business, where he became a huge pain in the ass to the book's stars, frequently either stealing jobs or running away from joint assignments when they proved to be too dangerous. He was publicly humiliated by fleeing from a bomb that Power Man ended up disabling, and swore revenge... at which point the book was probably cancelled, because he was never seen again until modern times.

-In modern times, it was revealed that he began abusing his girlfriend, and turned up dead. His girlfriend was imprisoned, but Iron Fist and the new Power Man helped her prove her innocence (it was a magical mask that was possessing her). A third Crime-Buster (well, I guess the second, since HYPHENS COUNT, GODDAMMIT) showed up in Avengers: The Initiative, having joined The Cavalry- Georgia's Initiative team.

-Crime-Buster is a pretty weak-ass "Hero For Hire", being more lucky than good.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Bladewind
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Crystar! Cammi! Conan! Captain Universe!)

Post by Bladewind »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:01 pm So yeah, I was reading a bunch of Excalibur issues from the "Alan Davis Years" when he was the sole creative force, and... they're not bad. The plot is more straightforward and less "TEE HEE!" than Claremont's writing was, and OH MY GOD the art is good. Davis basically spoils us by adding EVEN MORE women to the run. His sense of action and dynamism is remarkable as well- Nightcrawler looks REALLY cool doing some martial arts board-breaking.

But man... I'd never seen his Cerise in action before. Really, all I'd seen of the character was some Marvel Cards. But HOLY HELL- I had no idea he drew her as a ripped Lady Bodybuilder. I only have one issue featuring her, but she is packing HUGE shoulder muscles, and her haughty, unusual alien demeanor makes it ever better. They even do the classic "Alien Misunderstanding Leads To Sexiness" thing, as she observes competitive lip-locking going on with Meggan & Courtney Ross (actually Sat-Yr-9) competing over Brian Braddock, inquires as to whether or not this is a usual Earth custom, gets the affirmative from Kurt ("ja- and quite enjoyable!"), at which point she basically yanks him off his feet and tongue-wrestles him for several minutes (Davis, being a master, has a grandfather clock right next to them for three panels, so you can tell).

They do a really good job of establishing Kylun as a cool character, featuring him lose the love of his life in HIS DEBUT, but you feel it with them having spent only a couple of panels together beforehand. It's too bad neither of these characters ever took off.

But thing Thong-Wearing Lunatic Jamie Braddock shows up and ruins the whole flow, because oh god I hate that character :).
Everything about this post brings up awesome memories. Except maybe Jamie as I totally agree with you. It`s a little more palatable if you've read the Captain Britain trade paperback. Note I said a little.

To me, Cerise was/ is a Star Sapphire if I were to do a DC cross-over, heck she was pretty much a GL in pink. And man, did I like her bug armor. Too bad we only saw it rarely.

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Thorpocalypse wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:01 pm Building to be comics "accurate" is different than building to run a PC or building something to challenge a group.
Bladewind's 3ed M&M Builds
The Merge Setting document
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Comet Man

Post by Jabroniville »

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COMET MAN (Dr. Stephen Beckley)
Created By:
Bill Mumy, Miguel Ferrer & Kelley Jones
First Appearance: Comet Man #1 (Feb. 1987)
Role: Forgotten Hero
PL 9 (236)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+14) -- Flaws: Limited to Astrophysics & Astronomy
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)
Technology 6 (+12)
Vehicles 8 (+12)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
Teleport 20 (Extras: Extended, Easy, Accurate) (100) -- [104]
  • AE: Movement 3 (Space Travel) (Extras: Instant Transfer) (9)
  • AE: "Thought-Pitching" Mind-Reading 8 (16)
  • AE: "Psychokinetic Field" Force Field 4 (Extras: Impervious 9) (13)
  • AE: Blast 9 (18)
"Find Locations" Senses 12 (Detect Life- Acute, Accurate, Ranged 8) [12]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Immunity 7 (Suffocation 2, Radiation, Pressure, Vacuum, Heat, Cold) [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Blasts +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8 (+12 Force Field), Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Ann & Benny)- Stephen has a wife & son, but Ann died in an escape attempt from Stephen's enemies.
Enemy (The Bridge)- This clandestine government organization is related to Stephen- his father runs the organization.

Total: Abilities: 78 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 135 / Defenses: 6 (236)

-Comet Man is a little-known hero introduced in a Limited Series in the late 1980s, and subsequently showed up in a tiny handful of other issues, totalling about fifteen comics combined. An astrophysicist who flew a spacecraft, Dr. Stephen Beckley was accidentally vaporized by an alien named Max (who claimed to have helped seed the Milky Way with life), and rebuilt in a process that granted him superpowers. This weird-sounding Limited Series (featuring a conspiracy, long-lost family members and a dead wife) pretty much seems to have gone nowhere, and the character was next seen in a couple Fantastic Four issues & Marvel Comics Presents, only to reappear a decade later in an "Initiative"-focused issue where he fought Cybermancer.

-He's such a minor, forgettable figure in Marvel history (like... why debut this nobody in a Limited Series and not someone else's book if they wanted to make a go of it?) that his biggest contribution to the company was Earth X, in which his son Ben becomes "The Skull"- the telepathic monster child that takes over the world and is the setting's Big Bad.

-His creator, Bill Mumy, is actually more well-known as an actor and narrator than for anything in comics. He portrayed Lennier on Babylon 5, and was the narrator of AE's Biography for years. But his biggest impact on pop culture was as WILL ROBINSON on Lost In Space. As to why he was writing comics, who knows? However, Comet Man apparently coincides with the arrival of Halley's Comet in Earth's orbit in 1986- to me, this indicates that the comic was an atttempt at cashing in on something.

-His powers are a bit odd, but he's basically a long-range Teleporter with some Blasts, Psychokinetic powers and Mind-Reading. Plus he's super-strong and tough, which is a weird thing. The Teleport thing is HIGHLY-long range, making him much more expensive than he really should be. He can also find the locations of others telepathically and bring himself to them.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Colossus

Post by Jabroniville »

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COLOSSUS (Piotr Nikolaevitch Rasputin)
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: The Gentle Giant, Team Powerhouse, Fate's Butt-Monkey, Protective Brother/Lover, The Naiive Kid, The Hidden Bad-Ass
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Acolytes, Excalibur, The Breakworld, X-Force
PL 11 (160)
STRENGTH
4/13 STAMINA 4/10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Expertise (Artist) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Farmer) 3 (+5)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 1 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Debris) 3 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Human Beings) 7 (+11)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Attractive, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Organic Steel Form"
Alternate Form (Move Action) [-1]

Enhanced Strength 9 [18]
Enhanced Stamina 6 [12]
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 11) [14]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Poison, Disease, Starvation & Thirst, Radiation, Vacuum) [7]
Immunity 2 (Drowning, Suffocation) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Steel Form +8 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4 (+13 Steel Form, +5 Impervious), Fortitude +7 (+13 Steel Form), Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Xavier's Dream)- Colossus left a happy life on a farm to join Xavier's crusade, believing that he owed it to mutants everywhere to use his powers properly.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- They fell in love when he was a young adult and she was too young; he fell for another and broke up with her, but then fell back in love... and she was with Pete Wisdom. Then he died. But when he came back, they finally hooked up. Then she merged with a bullet. Then when she came back, he gave himself over to Cyttorak, and she broke up with him.
Relationship (Illyana Rasputin)- It doesn't matter how demonic and evil she gets, Colossus is very protective of his Little Snowflake. Threaten her at your own peril.
Relationship (Mikhail Rasputin)- Peter worshipped his older brother, and mourned him when the cosmonaut was thought dead in a rocket explosion. Mikhail turned up alive but evil, breaking Peter's heart again.
Responsibility (The Last Survivor of his Family)- OK, so Mikhail & Illyana came back from the dead. But still, being a mutant has cost Colossus nearly everything, and has done so at various points. He is easily one of the most tragic X-Men, and it's led him to lose The Dream more than once.
Responsibility (Russian)- He is Russian. Bad things just HAPPEN to him. It's like an entire nation of Peter Parkers.
Temper- Colossus is the LAST X-Man you ever want to piss off. Yes, he's a Gentle Giant. Yes, he dislikes fighting and needless violence. But if you threaten his loved ones, he will kill you. Ask Proteus and Riptide what it's like to make him angry. When Illyana was sick, he beat Trevor Fitzroy to a bloody pulp and his teammates had to drag him off. When Ord from Breakworld had the X-Men on the ropes, Colossus handed him his ass on a silver platter. When he caught Kitty in the arms of Pete Wisdom, he nearly did the world a favor by killing him, but alas only did grievous bodily harm.
Power Loss (Durability)- Piotr is vulnerable to Vibranium-based attacks, as they cut through his durability.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 15 (160)

Colossus- Best X-Man:
-Colossus (obviously a Dave Cockrum design- check out the long boots!) was easily my favorite X-Man ever, and is in my Top Ten Favorite Characters Ever. Granted, no matter his personality, I would've loved him as a kid simply because of how Jim Lee drew him, all glisteningly-corded muscles and hugeness, but the fact that he's got a great set of character traits helps, too :). Among all the hard-asses and noble heroic types in comics, it's nice to see a polite young farmboy who never really wanted to kick ass and take names in the super-hero biz. See, Piotr really just wanted to remain on the farm with his family, but his conscience (rather than his heart) strove him to join Xavier's team and use his powers for the betterment of human & mutant alike. Simple on the surface, Petey showed deep complexity: He was torn between duty and love. He desperately wanted young Kitty Pryde, and she him, but knew it was questionable to follow through (a similar theme was used with very similar characters by Geoff Johns in his JSA run; using Atom Smasher & Stargirl). He loathed using violence, but GOD HELP YOU if you were the one who provoked him.

-Funny that the Team Peacenik was also the one who racked up one of the biggest Kill Counts of major characters. Lots of heroes kill Mooks, but actual Named Villains? Petey has them beat. Proteus AND Riptide fell by the wayside, both of which were some of the defining moment of the X-Books (as Proteus was so ungodly powerful that even Pete knew SOMEONE had to stop him), but I particularly got chills when Peter stormed through Riptide's shuriken-storm after he lethally-wounded Nightcrawler, watched as the Marauder killed dozens of Morlocks right in front of him, and just wrathfully lashed out, grabbed him by the neck while he gasped like a coward, and snapped his neck, promising fellow Marauder Harpoon that he should make peace with his gods, because HE was NEXT. It always means more when it's the nice guy doing it, folks. "Beware the fury of a patient man", was someone's comment.

Peter's Start:
-Peter seemed to be something different right from the beginning- a superhero with living parents and an actual sister stood out a fair bit, and he clearly didn't think he was set out for this life. He admits to his father that he REALLY wanted to just stay at home on the family farm, but that his conscience demanded he join Xavier's X-Men. And he swiftly revealed that he was young and a bit unwise to the ways of the world, but in the sense that he was an innocent dreamer, not some stupid kid. The Angel even admits to himself that he thought Peter "a hick" at first, but realized his error. While "Strong Guy Is Actually Smart" would be a bit of a cliche at points in comics, we had very few PEACE-LOVING Powerhouses. We'd learn bits at pieces about him- he adored his little sister Illyana, and his older brother Mikhail was a cosmonaut who died in an accident. His peacefulness made it all the more important when he used his metallic skin to KILL the villain Proteus, who was so powerful he threatened the entire planet. It needed to be done... but was a dark moment for the youngest member of the team.

-Peter didn't quite dominate the characterization of the book, though some of the others took a while to find their footing- Nightcrawler was Dave Cockrum's favorite. Wolverine developed into the grizzled bad-ass we all know and love, but only under John Byrne. Storm became a knowing, strong leader. Cyclops & Jean had their whole soap opera. Even Banshee had a lot of "weary old soldier" stuff going on. Peter being so simple and naive was kind of just his thing... until KITTY came along.

Peter & Kitty:
-Kitty had also developed a thing with Colossus not too long after her debut- initially, she'd just crushed on him, embarrassing the poor lad (who had no experience with women). Eventually, however, he returned her feelings, but acknowledged that their age difference (he was 18-19, she was barely 14-15), and let's face it- in real life, that would be HELLA-WRONG. They even had a fairly-adult conversation when they feared an inevitable death thanks to being infected by Brood eggs, where they discussed spending the night together- "I wish I was older" "So do I. However, little one, you are NOT older". An additional wrinkle would develop when Illyana was develop her own incredible backstory- falling into Limbo, and returning as a pre-teen girl with lethal, demonic powers. And this gave ANOTHER aspect to our Russian hero- that of protector. Illyana of course was extremely dangerous, but to COLOSSUS, she was his "Little Snowflake", and so he still tried to guard her from the world. He, Kitty & Illyana (now Magik) were a veritable trio, going on many adventures.

-This whole era made Peter out to be a good contrast to the rest of the team- his comparative youth and naivete was refreshing, because so many of the others were grim. Storm saw him as "Little Brother", while Wolverine & Nightcrawler referred to him as "a boy", making him a bit apart from their brotherly shenanigans. He wasn't without his own problems, but he was more introspective and solemn than the others- rarely a vocal complainer. Kind of a nice, mature contrast to everyone wallowing in self-pity- his confusion and shock when the world turned out to be an ugly place was charming.

-Eventually, however, Peter would break Kitty's heart- apparently Jim Shooter issued one of his legendary decrees, and demanded a split-up. Colossus fell in love with the alien girl Zsaji during Secret Wars, and his feelings for Kitty faded. He let her down as well as he could, but shattered her poor heart. It's actually a REALLY emotionally-wrought story, too- Kitty practically begging the heavens that this not be the case, but not wanting Peter to see her acting that way. Wolverine was so pissed off at Peter's actions ("he owed her a blood debt. And he welshed"), he decided to beat the shit out of him (Nightcrawler: "He's only a boy!" Logan: "Then he deserves a spankin'.")- thankfully, Peter gets drunk in a bar next to The Juggernaut, ends up brawling with him, and takes such an enormous beating that Logan's like "Nah, we're good". There's even a cute bit where Juggy asks Logan if they're gonna fight, and is all "Smart man" when Logan's all "nah", then tells them to let Petey know he put up a hell of a fight and should be proud. MANLY STUFF, YO.

Colossus Moves On:
-Colossus was a mainstay on the X-Book until the post-Mutant Massacre/Australia X-Men team, which resulted in some changes. He executed the Marauder known as Riptide in a great moment of outrage, again showing that his nature made him the perfect guy for this "these was no other way" situations. He actually stuck around on the "Punk X-Men" phase (having "died" with the X-Men in their battle against The Adversary and going into hiding), finally leaving the book after he went through the Siege Perilous, where the X-Men weirdly decided to allow him to live on in his "new life", since he has a happy superstar artist. And so for quite a few years of the "Jim Lee Era", Colossus was gone from the book, and thus out of sight. Eventually, however, he got possessed by The Shadow King- once this was done with, his original persona had emerged, and he re-joined the team just as Chris Claremont left the X-books- Colossus ended up joining the Gold Strike Force team (aka the boring one that Jim Lee didn't want to draw). By this point, Kitty had been on Excalibur for years and a non-factor in his life, and Illyana had reverted back to childhood.

-This new phase, however, started Colossus down his bizarre slide into Marvel's Most Tragic Mutant. First, in the Whilce Portacio Uncanny X-Men (scripted by John Byrne), he discovered that his "dead' cosmonaut brother was actually a mutant surviving in another dimension, but Mikhail Rasputin turned out evil. He spent a lot of time as a background character until Marvel decided that ALL Russians must have horrific backstories- Mikhail died, as did their parents (slain by Russian agents while kidnapping Magik to use as a weapon against The Soul Skinner). Then when Illyana was safe, she became the first big-name victim of Stryfe's Legacy Virus, pretty much leaving Colossus with nobody. In a daze, and unable to believe in "Xavier's Dream" any longer, he joined Magneto's Acolytes in a huge stab at the X-Men.

Colossus Dies:
-Colossus would rejoin the X-teams later on, but writers didn't really know what to do with him- a cast-off character from X-Men, he landed in Excalibur, where suddenly he acted jealous about Kitty Pryde and beat up Pete Wisdom, Warren Ellis's Special Precious Pet Character Self-Insert. His "mental illness" (some minor thing surrounding his leaving the X-Men in the first place was due to accumulated damage, I guess) was cured, and he accepted Kitty/Wisdom, though Lockheed frequently attempted to put the two together (perhaps acting as a stand-in to the fans). Eventually, Colossus, Kitty and Nightcrawler returned to the X-Men in a big reunion (the latter two had been off the team for a DECADE by that point- as a fan, I'd literally never seen them on it). Claremont returned to the book and hooked him up with Rogue for five seconds (Marvel would get worse and worse with that over the years), but otherwise, he had nothing going on.

-In the end, Colossus sacrificed his own life to save other mutants from the very Legacy Virus that killed his sister, getting one of the most-heroic deaths possible (LITERALLY committing suicide, because the Virus's cure could only be enacted by the death of the first person to inject it- Peter chose to die rather than let another person like his sister die). In a very, VERY bad era for Marvel Comics, Colossus had one of the best send-offs possible (his speech with his father, from Giant-Size X-Men #1, was reprinted in full over a picture of his dead body). His death was taken seriously enough that GRANT MORRISON of all people was told "No" by an Editor, as he was unable to use Peter for his New X-Men run (which is why we had the mysteriously diamond-skinned Emma Frost instead- I guess he NEEDED a Powerhouse).

Colossus Un-Dies:
-And then, in one of the great resurrections in comics, Colossus comes charging out of a laboratory to save the X-Men from Ord in Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run- resurrected by Ord's people's technology in order to research him and create a "Mutant Cure". But in a bizarre twist, Colossus turns out to be the prophesied "Destroyer of the Breakworld"... which turns out to be coincidental for a reason. Peter was handled SO WELL, here- Whedon depicts him as this bewildered, confused man, very mature but completely unable to handle being twisted in all these directions. He gets some astonishingly bad-ass moments (at one point kicking the shit out of Ord while screaming "I! AM MADE! OF RAGE!"), gets nervous around Kitty, and is mystified by his relationship with the Breakworld. Plus the great bit where he tries to make a joke ("No- I have been planning to destroy the Breakworld since I was a child" *everyone stares at him in utter shock. He nervously smiles* "See? This is why I do not often make with the jokes. I never know when is good."). Whedon's Colossus was just perfect- strong, tough, brave and noble, but lacking the self-assurance of most of his teammates and frequently being shocked at this crazy world he'd entered as a teenager. And Whedon FINALLY HOOKED HIM AND KITTY UP, much to the joy of the rest of the team ("bout time", says Wolverine).

Colossus Gets F*cked:
-But even THEN he could not find happiness, as Kitty was soon lost, then when she returned she dumped him, having seen his repeated attempts at sacrificing himself for others. At least he finds his sister alive once more, as Illyana has turned back into Magik. He fails to impress in various battles, however- he's easily beaten during World War Hulk, and has to gain the powers of Cyttorak in order to fight the enhanced powers of the Juggernaut, his old sparring partner. Already dangerous (allying with Cyclops's more revolutionary X-Men because he didn't want to be around Logan's school and its students due to his extremely evil powers), he ended up turning a bit crazy during Avengers (vs) X-Men, gaining ANOTHER temporary power-up, via the Phoenix Force.

-Eventually BOTH of these power-sets left him, and he joined Cable's X-Force for a time, trying to find his place- this led to a brief "Modern Comic Book Quickie Relationship" with Domino, then a stint on the Amazing X-Men roster... where Storm said what a LOT of fans had been noticing- that Colossus had turned into a major screw-up. While the Peter Fan in me winced as she called him "the strongest... and yet WEAKEST... of my brothers", it hurt because it was TRUE- the past five-ish years had basically turned into writers screwing around with his character and messing with him over and over again (by this point, he'd even declared hatred for his SISTER, after she proved that she could have removed Cyttorak's powers from him at any time). Never mind that, with the powers of CYTTORAK AND THE PHOENIX, he never even got any big wins over anybody. He had, more or less, become one of the most-disprespected super-heroes in the Marvel Universe.

-Part of this is due to the constant f*ckery of the creative teams at Marvel, leading to one-year runs on books where the writers just tried to do whatever they could to "shake things up", leaving many characters like Peter both in character-limbo, and doing totally random dumb things. So after Amazing, he ended up on Extraordinary X-Men... doing nothing of interest. When as a backgrounder in the fight against the Inhumans. And then he rejoins a team with KITTY, and then FINALLY FORM A RELATIONSHIP HOORAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! Except then, by Editor Decree, their planned wedding is broken up by Kitty (WHO PROPOSED TO HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE), who takes Magik's advice ("I think if you were meant to be together, you would have done so already") to heart and suddenly thinks they may have made a mistake after all. But they still love each other, so... yay?

Colossus In Other Media:
-Colossus actually gets fairly little play on most X-themed media, likely because he's probably SUPER-hard to draw repeatedly. It's shocking how long it took me to figure this out, given that I'm an artist too, but yeah- a guy with lines all around his limbs and shiny skin is easy enough to draw in COMIC form, because it gives you a great example of the illusion of 3-D in your drawing (the lines go all the way around, thus making it easy to give the semblance of depth in the image), and metal has great contrast in static images. But in the sequential art of a cartoon show, those very lines and shiny bits make it a PAIN IN THE ASS to draw repeatedly- so this is why he was only in a handful of episodes of the 1990s cartoon, and only showed up periodically in the films (CGI Metal People aren't the easiest thing to make look convincing, either). Plus his powers are so relatively simple, yet also problematic in fights (regular guns and stuff aren't a challenge to him, whereas most of the X-Men could be killed)- I can see why directors might not want to deal with it.

Colossus As A Whole:
-Despite a fairly unexciting history in the early years (like I said, he's arguably the least-altered X-Man of the early bunch for about fifteen years), Colossus has oddly turned into one of the most emblematic cases of the problems affecting Marvel Comics these days- a history that's WAY too insanely full of complications, long-lost family members, power-ups, de-powerings, quickie-relationships, "Will They Won't They" relationships that go so far over the place that they effectively ruin what made people WANT that relationship in the first place, etc. IT'S ABSOLUTELY INSANE!!! I mean, plenty of characters have died and come back to life... but how many have also had THEIR LONG-LOST BROTHER AND AGED-UP/DE-AGED/RE-AGED SISTER do the same? How many super-heroes got stuck with the "I cannot control my innate super-powers to change my body, and them thus stuck in this inhuman form?" story-arc TWICE?

-And has ANY comic book relationship been through as many insane twists and turns as Colossus/Kitty at this point? They never got together in the '80s, but still broke up. Then he suddenly carried the torch in Excalibur. Then got over it. Then died, and then came back to life, where they were One True Loves. But then SHE died. But not really, so they were together... but couldn't touch because of her powers. Then she broke up with him again. Then he got mad when she rebuked him the next time. Then they finally got together and planned a wedding... but she called it off. I mean, who can even CARE at this point? They broke up the first time THIRTY GODDAMN YEARS AGO!!!

-I'm not one of those "Marvel Needs a Reboot" people, because such things never work and always lead to disaster. But... this is the kind of thing that makes that point of view actually make a bit of sense. Colossus has been through more twists and turns than almost any other character, and he's just one of FIFTY X-Men! Oddly, he wasn't even that convoluted until just after his resurrection, as it was all that additional crap from various fly-by-night writers that screwed the pooch- even his "I once joined the Acolytes" and "my sister is of varied ages" stuff isn't that bad by comics standards (I mean... it's PRETTY bad, but not HAWKMAN bad). But MAN has he been through the wringer.

-All in all, though, I still like the character. His more guileless, innocent approach is endearing on a team of grim, morose complainers. His visual appearance is frankly the best of the entire X-Men- this HUGE, muscular dude made of corded steel? One of the greatest, most simple Powerhouse designs in comics. And emblematic of that type, too- most of the X-Teams of the '90s would have a Colossus-Tier guy on the squad by the end. His power-set was simple, but effective- most guys on the X-Books have tons of powers and side-powers, and "well he can do X, so let's add Y" stuff... Colossus's powers are that he is strong and tough. But unlike Warpath or other guys like that, he has the "Alternate Form" thing which gives both a human aspect and the "Battle Form" thing that's actually fairly unusual for comics.

Colossal Stats:
-Man, I love big strong guys. They stat up real pretty, and they don't cost massive points in 3e. Which isn't to say Petey's ineffective or anything- he's not. He's strong, reasonably accurate (equivalent to Ben Grimm on all fronts, really- though no Power Lifting, as Pete lacks the strength feats that Ben & others have shown), durable as hell, a fairly good fighter with some Combat Advantages. He's faster than your average Powerhouse, and he's got a pretty good set of Skills, being a somewhat personable (and oh-so-RPG Builder-sexuality-threateningly-handsome) guy. Vibranium's apparently his Achilles Heel (who knew? Wiki says so), but other than that, it's a by-the-book Alternate Form: Steel build. I did throw a little cutsey Skill in there for his "Fastball Special" trick: he can toss a 400-pound guy for MILES, and do it with great accuracy.

-Despite his great power, of course, Colossus gets very little respect as a heavy-hitter. The problem is The Thing is the ONLY tough guy on his team, and so gets plenty of good showings and feats of indomitable will. Sasquatch of Alpha Flight is stronger, and The Hulk is so much stronger that it's not even funny. So Colossus has VERY few "Good Showings" compared to the others, to the point of even being embarassed by opponents at times- Chris Claremont often had him being overshadowed by ROGUE.

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Image
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COLOSSUS (Piotr Nikolaevitch Rasputin)- 1990s Version
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: The Gentle Giant, Team Powerhouse, Fate's Butt-Monkey, Protective Brother/Lover, The Naiive Kid, The Hidden Bad-Ass
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Acolytes, Excalibur, The Breakworld, X-Force
PL 10 (154)
STRENGTH
4/13 STAMINA 4/10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Expertise (Artist) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Farmer) 3 (+5)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 1 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Debris) 3 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Human Beings) 7 (+11)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Attractive, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Organic Steel Form"
Alternate Form (Move Action) [-1]

Enhanced Strength 9 [18]
Enhanced Stamina 6 [12]
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 11) [14]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Poison, Disease, Starvation & Thirst, Radiation, Vacuum) [7]
Immunity 2 (Drowning, Suffocation) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Steel Form +7 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4 (+13 Steel Form, +5 Impervious), Fortitude +7 (+13 Steel Form), Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Xavier's Dream)- Colossus left a happy life on a farm to join Xavier's crusade, believing that he owed it to mutants everywhere to use his powers properly.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- They fell in love when he was a young adult and she was too young; he fell for another and broke up with her, but then fell back in love... and she was with Pete Wisdom. Then he died. But when he came back, they finally hooked up. Then she merged with a bullet. Then when she came back, he gave himself over to Cyttorak, and she broke up with him.
Relationship (Illyana Rasputin)- It doesn't matter how demonic and evil she gets, Colossus is very protective of his Little Snowflake. Threaten her at your own peril.
Relationship (Mikhail Rasputin)- Peter worshipped his older brother, and mourned him when the cosmonaut was thought dead in a rocket explosion. Mikhail turned up alive but evil, breaking Peter's heart again.
Responsibility (The Last Survivor of his Family)- OK, so Mikhail & Illyana came back from the dead. But still, being a mutant has cost Colossus nearly everything, and has done so at various points. He is easily one of the most tragic X-Men, and it's led him to lose The Dream more than once.
Responsibility (Russian)- He is Russian. Bad things just HAPPEN to him. It's like an entire nation of Peter Parkers.
Temper- Colossus is the LAST X-Man you ever want to piss off. Yes, he's a Gentle Giant. Yes, he dislikes fighting and needless violence. But if you threaten his loved ones, he will kill you. Ask Proteus and Riptide what it's like to make him angry. When Illyana was sick, he beat Trevor Fitzroy to a bloody pulp and his teammates had to drag him off. When Ord from Breakworld had the X-Men on the ropes, Colossus handed him his ass on a silver platter. When he caught Kitty in the arms of Pete Wisdom, he nearly did the world a favor by killing him, but alas only did grievous bodily harm.
Power Loss (Durability)- Piotr is vulnerable to Vibranium-based attacks, as they cut through his durability.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 12 (154)

-This is Colossus from more "back in the day"- a scaled-down, PL 10 version. Despite his great strength, he rarely actually felt overwhelming in older comics. In the '80s, Rogue was noticeably more powerful (largely through Power Mimicry), and his most frequent sparring partners were guys like The Juggernaut, who were much more powerful.

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COLOSSERNAUT (Piotr Nikolaevitch Rasputin)
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: The Gentle Giant, Team Powerhouse, Fate's Butt-Monkey, Protective Brother/Lover, The Naiive Kid, The Hidden Bad-Ass
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Acolytes, Excalibur, The Breakworld, X-Force
PL 12 (256)
STRENGTH
4/17 STAMINA 4/16 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Expertise (Artist) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Farmer) 3 (+5)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 1 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Debris) 3 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Human Beings) 7 (+11)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Attractive, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Organic Steel Form"
Alternate Form (Move Action) [-1]

Enhanced Strength 9 [18]
Enhanced Stamina 8 [16]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]

"Possessed of the Gem of Cyttorak"
"Natural Size" Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
Power-Lifting 3 (12,000 tons) [3]
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 23) [25]

"Super-Strength Feats"
"Shockwave" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Both Grounded) (24) -- [28]
  • AE: "Thunderclap" Dazzle Hearing 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range, Distracting) (12)
  • AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (18)
  • AE: "Groundstrike Line" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (18)
  • AE: Penetrating Strength Damage 16 (16)
"Nothing Stops the Collosernaut!"
Enhanced Strength 5 (Flaws: Limited to Maintaining Forward Movement) [5]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]
Immunity 11 (Life Support, Aging) [11]

"Colossernaut Helmet" (Flaws: Removable) [16]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Steel Form +8 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Colossernaut +7 (+17 Damage, DC 32)
Area Attacks +12 (+12 Damage and/or Affliction, DC 27 and/or 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +4 (+18 Steel Form, +12 Impervious), Fortitude +7 (+16 Steel Form), Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Xavier's Dream)- Colossus left a happy life on a farm to join Xavier's crusade, believing that he owed it to mutants everywhere to use his powers properly.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- They fell in love when he was a young adult and she was too young; he fell for another and broke up with her, but then fell back in love... and she was with Pete Wisdom. Then he died. But when he came back, they finally hooked up. Then she merged with a bullet. Then when she came back, he gave himself over to Cyttorak, and she broke up with him.
Relationship (Illyana Rasputin)- It doesn't matter how demonic and evil she gets, Colossus is very protective of his Little Snowflake. Threaten her at your own peril.
Relationship (Mikhail Rasputin)- Peter worshipped his older brother, and mourned him when the cosmonaut was thought dead in a rocket explosion. Mikhail turned up alive but evil, breaking Peter's heart again.
Responsibility (The Last Survivor of his Family)- OK, so Mikhail & Illyana came back from the dead. But still, being a mutant has cost Colossus nearly everything, and has done so at various points. He is easily one of the most tragic X-Men, and it's led him to lose The Dream more than once.
Responsibility (Russian)- He is Russian. Bad things just HAPPEN to him. It's like an entire nation of Peter Parkers.
Temper- Colossus is the LAST X-Man you ever want to piss off. Yes, he's a Gentle Giant. Yes, he dislikes fighting and needless violence. But if you threaten his loved ones, he will kill you. Ask Proteus and Riptide what it's like to make him angry. When Illyana was sick, he beat Trevor Fitzroy to a bloody pulp and his teammates had to drag him off. When Ord from Breakworld had the X-Men on the ropes, Colossus handed him his ass on a silver platter. When he caught Kitty in the arms of Pete Wisdom, he nearly did the world a favor by killing him, but alas only did grievous bodily harm.
Power Loss (Durability)- Piotr is vulnerable to Vibranium-based attacks, as they cut through his durability.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 153 / Defenses: 13 (256)

-During Fear Itself, Colossus, Magik and Kitty came to the dimension of the Elder God Cyttorak in order to get The Juggernaut de-powered. Witnessing Juggie wielding the powers of another God (The Serpent), Cyttorak declared him apostate and removed his blessings from Cain Marko. However, he required another... it was to be Illyana (since she's naturally pretty destructive), but Colossus took the bullet for her, gaining the powers himself, effetively turning him into a super-garish version of The Juggernaut. The outfit... REALLY doesn't work on him. He actually seemed to get very few Power Feats to his name even in THIS form, especially since he went all Phoenix not long after. He's solidly in the power league as Marko, though- slow and easy to hit, but nigh-impossible to put down.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:42 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Champions of Xandar! Comet Man! Colossus!)

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Weirdly enough, one of the truest Colossus interpretations outside of the comics may have been his appearances in the Deadpool films. He gets to show off as extremely strong, extremely durable, somewhat naive but goodhearted, loath to fight but an absolute terror once his temper is roused... yes, it's played for comedy as often as not, but he came off as the moral center, the one who believed so hard that Deadpool could be a better person that it starts working.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Crystar! Cammi! Conan! Captain Universe!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Bladewind wrote: Wed Nov 14, 2018 11:00 pm Everything about this post brings up awesome memories. Except maybe Jamie as I totally agree with you. It`s a little more palatable if you've read the Captain Britain trade paperback. Note I said a little.

To me, Cerise was/ is a Star Sapphire if I were to do a DC cross-over, heck she was pretty much a GL in pink. And man, did I like her bug armor. Too bad we only saw it rarely.

Image

Image
Haha, nice :). Glad this brought up good memories. I really want to read more of Davis's Excalibur run- it seems very well done, and without Claremont's trademark silliness (he REALLY indulged his funny bone in this book), it seemed to be more dramatic and interesting. And hell, I think it was ONLY HERE that we got a payoff to the random "Sat-Yr-9 murders Courtney Ross" panel.

Feron, Necrom and others didn't really seem like interesting characters, though.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Champions of Xandar! Comet Man! Colossus!)

Post by Jabroniville »

FuzzyBoots wrote: Thu Nov 15, 2018 5:17 am Weirdly enough, one of the truest Colossus interpretations outside of the comics may have been his appearances in the Deadpool films. He gets to show off as extremely strong, extremely durable, somewhat naive but goodhearted, loath to fight but an absolute terror once his temper is roused... yes, it's played for comedy as often as not, but he came off as the moral center, the one who believed so hard that Deadpool could be a better person that it starts working.
Yeah, it was really fun. I think they chose him because he's distinctive-looking (which is why he's in SO MANY X-Movies, despite usually not getting anything to do- he simply has that distinctive, iconic "This is a mutant" look), but they really played up how he's kind of boring and nice, and make him the butt of many jokes... but they have a lot of fun with him, and actually make him out to be a good person. AND he gets to beat up The Juggernaut, which has never happened in the comics.

Colossus at his lack of "Good Showings" will never not be weird to me. Like modern Ben Grimm, it seems that being Class 100 is just NOTHING in a world of gods.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Champions of Xandar! Comet Man! Colossus!)

Post by catsi563 »

The riptide moment to me was one of the most Shocking id ever read in a comic book or book really. I mean there was Peter no pushover by any means but a ncie guy and then he flat out Brutally executes this psycho. my jaw basically hit the floor and I nearly peed myself when he turned on harpoon his body coveed in darkness and shadow looking like hell.

The scary part was a short while later a GM friend was running a MArvel faserip game in it I was playing Rolling thunder on of my first ever characters and the group went down to the morlock tunnels to help out. the site of the dead and the Marauders casual brutality was such that the character who tries to be the nice guy bit rough around the edges had to hold off the comined marauders force to allow the team to escape with refugees and at least 2 members wounded.

When they found Thunder after the small war was over the maraduers looked like theyd been hit by a nuke while thunder was standing over them looking like some murderous Beast.

Some Great roleplay ensued because the group had tried to play 4 color straight and thunder was one who did his best to uphold that standard.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Champions of Xandar! Comet Man! Colossus!)

Post by Jabroniville »

HHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjHYTzPQCA

Bobby Heenan tearfully telling the others at the table that Jameson "is alive" after choking is the greatest thing ever. Vince, always stoic, straight-up corpses on camera while Heenan is tearful and sombre at the notion that Jameson did not, in fact, choke to death right in front of him.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Crystar! Cammi! Conan! Captain Universe!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Bladewind wrote: Wed Nov 14, 2018 11:00 pm Everything about this post brings up awesome memories. Except maybe Jamie as I totally agree with you. It`s a little more palatable if you've read the Captain Britain trade paperback. Note I said a little.

To me, Cerise was/ is a Star Sapphire if I were to do a DC cross-over, heck she was pretty much a GL in pink. And man, did I like her bug armor. Too bad we only saw it rarely.

Image
Speaking of how good Alan Davis is, look at Kurt's tail in panels 1-3 ;)



As for Colossus, as a kid he was my favorite X-Men, period. Back then I really didn't get the appeal of Wolverine and Nightcrawler, mostly because I was the kind of quiet kid that prefered to stay in a corner reading a book, so Piotr really had something that clicked with me.
Last edited by Woodclaw on Thu Nov 15, 2018 3:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Crystar! Cammi! Conan! Captain Universe!)

Post by Bladewind »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Nov 15, 2018 6:51 am Feron, Necrom and others didn't really seem like interesting characters, though.
Can’t argue there.

Both of those characters always felt tacked in to the Phoenix mythos to wrap up a story make issue 50 EEEPPIIIICCCC.

And while the cross time caper got really silly sometimes, there were a lot of really good one shots... the world where there are essentially a race of people that look like Nightcrawler, a humanoid Lockheed for one. The issue where Megan’s “true form” was revealed. The intro of Lightning Squad. They still creep me out.
Thorpocalypse wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:01 pm Building to be comics "accurate" is different than building to run a PC or building something to challenge a group.
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The Commuter

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE COMMUTER (Ron something)
Created By:
Peter David & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #267 (Aug. 1985)
Role: One-Off Nuisance
PL 4 (57)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+7)
Insight 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Evasion

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Relationship (Mona & Judy- Wife & Daughter)
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 4 (57)

-The Commuter is an odd one-off foe, and has never reappeared after his debut. Using his cover as a mild-mannered man in Scarsdale, New York, he was secretly a criminal in Manhattan. In a pretty comedic issue, he foils Spider-Man by taking a "hostage" (actually a mannequin; his gun wasn't even real!), then fleeing onto the subway, where Spidey is tackled by security for NOT PAYING TO GET ON. Spidey manages to tag him with a tracer, following him to Scarsdale, where he's befuddled by numerous contrivances, such as being frisked by an off-duty cop, being barred entry on public transit again, and more. Spidey got into a foot race with The Commuter's vehicle, but managed to get a cab, then FINALLY captured the villain.

-An interesting look at a guy who's more of a nuisance than a threat, but still puts up a hell of a struggle despite a lack of powers, The Commuter (not an actual code-name- he just happens to commute) is good at planning things out, improvising, and making getaways- good knowledge of public transit is as effective at stalling Spidey as super-powers otherwise would be.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Caretaker

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE CARETAKER (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Howard Mackie & Andy Kubert
First Appearance: Ghost Rider #28 (May 1992)
Role: The Mentor
PL 10 (156)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+7)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (History) 8 (+12)
Expertise (Magic) 8 (+12)
Expertise (Demons) 8 (+12)
Insight 5 (+10)
Intimidation 3 (+7)
Perception 3 (+8)
Persuasion 1 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Equipment 1 (Shovel), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
Nullify Magical Effects 10 (Extras: Broad) [20]
Immunity 3 (Aging, Poison, Disease) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Shovel +11 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Nullify Magic +10 (+10 Nullify, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting Evil & Darkness)

Total: Abilities: 96 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 9 (156)

-Caretaker is a Ghost Rider guy who fights evil as a part of his ancient race called "The Blood". He aids Ghost Rider from time to time, often giving him useful advice. Unfortunately, in the 2000s Ghost Rider series, Danny Ketch was manipulated into attacking him, and Blackout hit the final blow- Caretaker was replaced by his granddaughter Sara, but his soul was destroyed because Heaven was then ruled by the rogue angle Zadkiel (who'd set up Caretaker in the first place). It's implied that his soul was later restored when Zadkiel was defeated, after Sara revealed that she possessed a portal to Heaven during a quest featuring both Blaze and Ketch GRs.

-A vague, mysterious "Mentor" character, Caretaker has a lot of strange knowledge and hidden strength- he's able to overpower Ghost Rider & Vengeance at ONCE in one story!
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Commanda

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

COMMANDA (Lady Catherine D'Antan)
Created By:
Kurt Busiek & Pat Olliffe
First Appearance: Untold Tales Of Spider-Man #9 (May 1996)
Role: Forgotten Villain, Jewel Thief, Seductress
PL 8 (86)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+8, +10 Attractive)
Expertise (Jewel Thief) 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+7, +9 Attractive)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Attractive, Benefit (Wealth) 2, Daze (Persuasion), Fascination (Persuasion)

Powers:
"Malleable Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Features 1: Quick Change (1)
Protection 2 (4)
Force Field 4 (4)
"Shock Gloves" Damage 6 (6)
-- (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Shock Gloves +5 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2 (+4 Suit, +8 Force Field), Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Adventure)- Catherine is an international jewel thief, but is rich enough to not need the money- she does it because she's bored with her life.
Power Loss (Drones)- Commanda's drones are controlled via electronics in her headband- should it be damaged, they will no longer follow insturction.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 8 (86)

-Commanda is one of the Untold Tales of Spider-Man "Retcon Characters" who was introduced to fight a young, rookie Spidey. She used feminine wiles and robot drones to escape capture, taking advantage of Peter when he was naiive- he basically hesitated to capture her TWICE, but pulled the usual Spidey Routine and recovered for the rematch- she later used trickery (and a Morphing Costume) to convince the police that SPIDEY was the thief, and actually got away scot-free. She has shown up in background appearances twice since then (once as the girlfriend of a super-bank robber named Blindside). Her little drones can combine into larger forms, turning into Lasers and stuff, but she's not very offensively-powerful on her own.

-It's never explained just WHERE these drones come from, or who builds them- they're just kind of there. Basically hand-sized little Flying Robots that can form together to form larger objects or make a Blast 6 or something, and can Interpose between Commanda and enemies. I don't imagine each one is very tough, but there's a lot of him. Commanda herself is basically a weak physical threat, but good with a bluff, especially against teenage boys.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Blindside

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

BLINDSIDE III (Nick Chernin)
Created By:
Marc Guggenheim & Mike McKone
First Appearance: Spider-Man- Brand New Day Yearbook (July 2008)
Role: One-Off Villain
PL 10 (102)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+10)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Technology 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Inventor, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Neurotoxin Coating" (Flaws: Removable) [29]
"Oedipus Touch" Affliction 12 (Fort; Vision Impaired/Disabled/Unaware) (Extras: Reaction +3, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Five Minutes, Limited to Vision) (36 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Neurotoxin +8 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (Commanda)

Total: 56 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 7 (102)

-Your classic "Scientist Who Invented One Thing", Blindside appeared in a Brand New Day tie-in (Jesus Christ... it's been ten years since that happened...). He developed a neurotoxin that caused temporary blindness (cleverly called "Oedipus"), and his boss came up with the idea for him to become a super-villain by pretending to steal toxin. He faced off against Spider-Man and the rookie heroine Jackpot (who were were meant to think was Mary Jane), but Spidey soon tracked him down, having concocted an antidote. However, Blindside revealed that his girlfriend, a forgotten Spidey foe named Commanda, was in the house, and the two nearly killed him before Jackpot showed up again to help. Once both got immunized to Blindside's trick, they easily beat the pair. However, his neurotoxin combined with the steroids in Jackpot's blood, killing her. Thus finishes the short-lived "Jackpot" experiment at Marvel.

-Later, Blindside appeared as a backgrounder at The Bar With No Name, and was handily beaten by Daredevil, who, of course, wasn't overly put out by being blinded for five minutes.

-Blindside isn't a terribly interesting character to build, but his power provides some interesting discussions about the nature of powers in comics (vs) RPGs. In comics, being blinded is being treated as a death-knell- nobody can fight without their sight, unless they're Daredevil or something. It's a complete game-breaker that ruins even SPIDER-MAN's chances of victory. But in M&M, it's this fairly-cheap thing- either an Affliction or a Concealment effect (which is notoriously under-priced). And of course... as an AFFLICTION, it really has a tough row to hoe compared to comics, where it's one of those "Touch and Instantly the Guy's Blind" things. In M&M, you kind of need to offer a Save Defense. And of course... it's hard to stat out an "Always Works" effect like this without really high ranks. I mean... Spider-Man has a pretty solid Fortitude Save- he's much stronger than a normal guy. DC Adventures frequently have NORMAL HUMANS Fort Saves closer to +10. Black Canary and Batman have +9, for example. I tend to go much lower than that for my guys, to make Afflictions more "worth it" and comparable to how they are in comics, but even then, Spidey's gotta have a solid one. So assuming he's +8 or something, he's got to roll REALLY SHITTILY to be completely Blinded in one shot. Actually, it's virtually impossible. Three degrees of failure? It's abysmal. But in comics, that's the result pretty much 100% of the time, and would be the case for almost any character like this.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
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